Ballymoney Model Integrated Primary School

End of Term 1B Update

The pupils of 7TS have continued to make a wonderful effort in all of their learning activities in Year 7. Some of the highlights during Term 1B include:

 - In Language and Literacy, we continued to read our class novel, ‘Friend or Foe’, by Michael Morpurgo. We had the opportunity to showcase our fantastic writing skills by writing an informal letter about our experiences as a child evacuated to the countryside during WWII. We explored the concept of a moral dilemma and considered the pros and cons of helping the German airmen in Friend or Foe. In a series of engaging ICT lessons, we researched the Belfast Blitz and used green screen technology to create a television news report about this historic event.

- In Numeracy, we practised multiplying and dividing by single and double digits. We also successfully calculated the area and perimeter of regular and composite shapes, and extended our thinking to calculating the area of triangles. We discovered strategies to solve word problems by working backwards. Additionally, we practised converting units of measure and time and calculated time durations. Recently, we calculated the mean, median, mode and range of sets of numbers. We developed our teamworking and problem-solving skills when completing IZAK-9 challenges and Numicon activities.

- In the World Around Us we completed our topic, ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’. We learned why blackouts occurred during WWII and working in groups, we carried out a science investigation to determine what materials are transparent, translucent or opaque. Additionally, we worked in pairs to research the life of Winston Churchill or Neville Chamberlain and created digital fact files about these two historic figures. In a special, week-long project homework, we used common materials to design our own Anderson Shelters, which we presented to our class.

- During Term 1B we continued to complete weekly PE lessons with Mrs Murphy and Miss Hemphill. We love taking part in our Daily Dander every day before lunch. Recently, we took part in a special ‘Daily Mile Santa Run’ while wearing Christmas jumpers!

- We continued to complete weekly PDMU lessons with Mrs Carson, which were so fun and exciting! To celebrate Road Safety Awareness Week, we carried out a ‘visibility experiment’ by analysing what pupil stood out the best under various conditions in class (e.g., normal daylight, dark). We also celebrated Friendship Week by identifying what special qualities we would like in a friend.

- To celebrate Christmas, 7TS sang ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’, which was filmed in front of a green screen as part of our Key Stage 2 Christmas production!  

- In RE, we completed a variety of fun activities from Grow in Love. In one particular lesson, we listened to an intriguing story about generosity and talked about how we can be generous.

We hope you enjoy looking at our highlights.

End of Term 1A Update

The pupils of 7TS have been working really hard and have made excellent progress throughout their time in Year 7. Some of the highlights during Term 1A include:

 - In Language and Literacy, we were introduced to our new class novel, ‘Friend or Foe’, by Michael Morpurgo. In relation to the story, we learned the structure of a tanka poem and composed our own tanka poem to convey the feelings and emotions of a child evacuee during WWII. We developed our skills in comparing and contrasting by finding the similarities and differences of living in the city of London and the Devon countryside during WWII. Additionally, we took part in a hot seating activity to gain a deeper understanding of a character in the story. We began to look at the structure of an informal letter and practised writing our own informal letter, in preparation for writing a letter from the viewpoint of an evacuee.

- In Numeracy, we identified the value of the digit in a number and practised reading, writing, ordering and comparing numbers up to 10,000,000. We also successfully answered questions using the formal written method for each of the four operations. We explored strategies to multiply 2-digit numbers by other 2-digit numbers. Additionally, we practised simplifying, ordering and adding fractions and used co-ordinates to reflect shapes vertically, horizontally and diagonally. We developed our teamworking and problem-solving skills when completing IZAK-9 challenges and Numicon activities.

- In the World Around Us we were introduced to our new topic, ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’. Working in pairs, we initially looked at photos, data and other information in relation to the topic to generate key investigative questions. We used the internet to research the axes and the allies during WWII and completed a map-labelling activity. We used the internet to identify the main events of WWII and created a timeline of WWII events.

- During Term 1A we were fortunate to receive special PE lessons from John Fall Sports and hockey lessons! We would also like to thank Miss Jackson for her weekly PE lessons.

- We completed a variety of interesting and informative PDMU lessons with Mrs Carson. In one particular lesson we thought carefully about our personal strengths and how to use them effectively.

- In a special series of music lessons, we practised our KS2 song, ‘Harvest Hymn’, which was filmed as part of our whole-song Harvest production!

- In RE, we completed a variety of exciting activities from Grow in Love.

We hope you enjoy looking at our highlights.

Year 7 pupils created the number 40 in the playground to celebrate 40 years of integrated education.